Harlem pounds Pretzels, ties for 1st place

Friday

May 4, 2018 at 9:55 PMMay 7, 2018 at 9:57 AM

FREEPORT — Two-time NIC-10 MVP Bianca Barone went 0-for-3 in a loss to Hononegah. Now she was 0-for-3 against Freeport.

Her teammates never doubted her.

“My team really got me pumped up, cheering me on, telling me to keep having confidence,” said Barone, who hit a pair of two-run homers in the final two innings Friday in Harlem’s 14-4 drubbing of Freeport.

“It felt like I was in a slump the whole game. It was getting in my head. I just needed to relax and focus on the team more than anything else.”

Harlem (15-2, 9-1) woke up when Barone did, scoring seven runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh to break away from a 4-all tie and knot the NIC-10 standings.

Freeport (17-2, 10-1), which has already swept Hononegah (12-9, 10-2), could have virtually clinched the title with a win. Now all three teams still have a chance with Harlem hosting Freeport and Hononegah back-to-back next Thursday and Friday.

“We played 21 innings this week and we played 19 innings spectacularly and we played two innings very, very poorly,” Freeport coach Chad Hersey said. “In this game, that will cost you. And it did.”

Harlem had Freeport on the ropes much of the game, but the Pretzels made four outstanding defensive plays, including right fielder Marley Rowe turning a scorched line drive into an inning-ending double play with a perfect one-hop throw to the plate.

“That’s Freeport being Freeport,” Harlem coach Kurt Head said. “That’s a very, very good team over there. That record, you don’t get that by accident. We have been very aware of what they have done to teams this year.

“The thing is, you just have to keep putting pressure on them. In this game, pressure is the most important thing on the offensive side. Eventually the ball will find its way and a team may break, but you have to start with pressure.”

Harlem turned up the pressure with two bunts that Freeport miss-played after an infield single by Hailey Howard to put its first three runners on base to start the sixth.

“Sometimes small-ball changes the game,” Head said.

“We were pumped. We just kept putting the bat on the ball and making adjustments,” said Howard, who finished with three of Harlem’s 13 hits.

Kirstin Fudge gave Harlem its first lead with a two-run homer in the third, but even when Harlem wasn't leading, the Huskies were always threatening. "As soon as we get the adrenaline going, we’re going to try to stick with it," Barone said.